The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : India slips to fifth spot

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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

India slips to fifth spot

Dhoni and Pathan take a slide; Sarwan moves up

Dubai: India went into the One-Day International series against the West Indies as the third-ranked team in the world, but has now slipped back to fifth in the table, below Pakistan and New Zealand, as well as South Africa and leader Australia.

The series loss to the West Indies has also been a sobering experience for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan as the two dropped down in the latest ICC players rankings.

Dhoni began the series in second place in the rankings for ODI batsmen, within touching distance of the top spot, which he held briefly last month before Adam Gilchrist of Australia overtook him.

However, a return of only 95 runs from five innings saw Dhoni drop two places to fourth. He now trails not only Gilchrist, but also the West Indies's Ramnaresh Sarwan, up nine spots to second position, and Australia's captain Ricky Ponting, currently in third place.

Like Dhoni, Pathan has endured a series to forget. The left-arm seamer started the tour in second place in the bowling list, but six wickets in four matches has seen him slide to seventh, although there are relatively few rating points between many of the players in that top group.

With the bat, Pathan is down 10 spots to 57th place, while in the rankings for all-rounders, he has slid two spots and now finds himself in the fifth position.

Captain Dravid has dropped out of the batting top 10, down three places to 12th, but it is not all doom and gloom for India in the player ratings.

Virender Sehwag has moved into the top 20, up six places to 18th, Yuvraj Singh remains in the 10th place and Mohd. Kaif is up eight spots to 46.

Ajit Agarkar has jumped back into the top 20 bowlers, rising eight places to 13th, while Harbhajan Singh is also in the top 20, down one spot in joint 11th, alongside South Africa's Makhaya Ntini.

Excellent display

Sarwan, who entered the top 10 earlier this month after a series of excellent displays against Zimbabwe, scored 273 runs in the series against India. This includes one hundred and two fifties, and it means he is now breathing down the neck of leader Gilchrist at the top of the batting list.

Below him, Chris Gayle is up three places to 11th position, while Dwayne Bravo, who made successive half-centuries in the last two matches of the series, rises 30 places to 74th.

Ian Bradshaw climbs into the bowling top 10 for the first time, up nine places to eighth spot. Gayle is also on the way up in the rankings for all-rounders, up two places to third.

The West Indies has not been able to improve on its eighth position in the ODI table, but Brian Lara's side has gained seven rating points because of the 4-1 series win.

It means it is now just five points behind seventh-placed England in the table.

LG ICC ODI championship: (Read as Position, Team, Rating): 1. Australia 132; 2. South Africa 119; 3. Pakistan 114; 4. New Zealand 113; 5. India 111; 6. Sri Lanka 105; 7. England 103; 8. West Indies 98; 9. Zimbabwe 40; 10. Bangladesh 23; 11. Kenya 7.

Player rankings (ODIs): Batsmen (Top 10): 1. Adam Gilchrist 809; 2. Ramnaresh Sarwan 790; 3. Ricky Ponting 785; 4. M.S. Dhoni 779; 5. Andrew Symonds 774; 6. Mike Hussey 762; 7. Graeme Smith 759; 8. Kevin Pietersen 745; 9. Kumara Sangakkara 736; 10. Yuvraj Singh 735.

Bowlers: 1. Shaun Pollock 858; 2. Shane Bond 762; 3. Glenn McGrath 756; 4. Daniel Vettori 750; 5. Brett Lee 732; 6. Nathan Bracken 723; 7. Irfan Pathan 713; 8. Ian Bradshaw 708; 9. Muttiah Muralitharan 701; 10. Chaminda Vaas 693.

All-rounders (Top 5): 1. Shaun Pollock 462; 2. Andrew Flintoff 432; 3. Chris Gayle 404; 4. Andrew Symonds 378; 5. Irfan Pathan 361. — Agencies

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